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Asia Travel Advice On-the-Go: A Tale of Two Travelers

Two acquaintances of mine were on the road recently, doing their own separate solo tours of Asia. One is a female post-graduate student in her mid-20s (we’ll call her Julie) on what Australians might call a “walkabout”, an extended trip of a few months. The other (let’s call him Brian) is an urban professional in his mid-40s, taking a three-week break between jobs. Because I’ve traveled extensively in the region, they asked me for help in planning their respective trips.

While both of them shared the same wanderlust, it is interesting to see their divergent approaches on getting travel advice. Both had the same big-picture questions (is X period of time enough to see certain countries, what’s the best way to get around, etc.) But when it came to more specific suggestions about hotels or activities, Julie was just fine scouring the web for free info. I’d offered my help, but she didn’t really see the need. Maybe it’s just a sign of her generation: “millennials” are well-known for their comfort with technology. But I’ve even heard older travelers boast of how easily they can dig up good travel info. Indeed it’s almost a source of pride.

So what’s the big deal? I too enjoy uncovering valuable nuggets of travel info – whether it’s a more direct flight, the perfect hotel or a unique activity. Some websites will even give you a “medal” if you play along and contribute your own info. Which in turn makes such sites more attractive to search engines, creating even more opportunities to sort through an ever-increasing amount of info.

But over the years I’ve found that it can eat up a ton of time. And when I do search, my signal-to-noise ratio is much tighter – I’d like less searching and more finding. Call me old and crotchety but my brain gets enough info searching and processing every day at work. It’s like getting your driver’s license. All you want to do is drive, then years later all you do IS drive. The novelty wears off. Same thing with technology. The excitement of getting 4 million search results in 0.7 seconds wears off after clicking on the 4th or 5th result. (Like many, I’m still waiting for technology to deliver my increased leisure time).

Perhaps Julie is simply a better multi-tasker, whose younger brain can withstand more info processing like a newer-model computer. But as a recent Stanford University study shows, over-tasking the brain affects even the hardiest multi-tasking college students. Try keeping it up in an office environment for 20 years, and you begin to understand why people like Brian want to cut to the chase and get solid, timely advice. Without a ton of searching.

So when he asked me to help finalize an itinerary for his Asia trip, I tried not to bog him down with a ton of options. I promised to help him out on the go as needed, but emphasized that above all he needed to GO. Get out there on the road and enjoy these precious travel moments as much as possible. Of course his tight time frame can explain why he chose to rely upon my on-the-go help rather than do it on his own. And what an ironic twist that having a “virtual trip assistant” of sorts inspired Brian to hop on a flight and delight in spontaneity – something usually reserved for college students.

How did this all turn out? Brian had a great time and became a loyal early advocate of Triptuner. As for Julie, she finally got her fill of DIY travel planning and sought me out for her last stop in Singapore.

We each have preferred ways of getting travel advice. I just think that there’s got to be a better way of accessing all of this valuable info in a meaningful way, while providing the personal service to help fill in the gaps. It’s one reason why we’re building Triptuner.